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Former heavyweight champion dies after armed robbery

Former WBO heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders, who famously shocked Wladimir Klitschko in 2003, has died in hospital after being shot

The Sunday Times

September 23 2012, 12:41pm, The Sunday Times

FORMER WBO heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders has died in hospital after being shot in an armed robbery in his native South Africa.

Initial reports say Sanders, who shocked Wladimir Klitschko to claim the WBO belt in 2003, was shot in the stomach at a restaurant in Brits, near the capital Pretoria, on Saturday. He died in the early hours of Sunday.

"It's very sad," Sanders' former trainer Harold Volbrecht told a South African radio station. "My heart is broken. It's just terrible. I can't believe it happened."

Police Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said three armed men entered the restaurant with the apparent intention to rob it and shot randomly, hitting Sanders. No other injuries were reported. The robbers took a cellphone and a bag from customers,…

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